When performing repair or cleaning operations at elevated levels, Federal Law and good common sense require that personnel be properly secured or "tied-off" to prevent injury in the event of a fall. In many situations, particularly those encountered inside the hulls of ships or in large tanks, where work may be being performed at elevations as much as or more than 35 feet from the floor, it is often difficult to locate appropriate attachment points for securing protective fall prevention devices.
In such situations, inside ship hulls, it is common to use so-called "mouse holes" in the structure of the vessel as attachment points for safety straps or cables. Since these "mouse holes" are designed to provide weep holes for contained cargo or water and not as attachment points for safety lanyards, they are often rough and result in fraying and concomitant weakening of inserted nylon straps or cables. Additionally, their location is sporadic, and they are often not located in appropriate positions to permit satisfactory and safe securement of safety lines. Also, the attachment of appropriate such nylon or cable safety lines to the "mouse holes" requires the use of both hands. Thus, the installer must let go of the ladder or other device by which he reached the level of the securing point in order to attach the safety line. This situation poses the immediate, albeit temporary, risk of falling with no protective fall prevention device in place.
The personnel security devices of the present invention, on the other hand, are designed to attach to regularly spaced, preexisting, structural members of a ship's hull or tank with one hand without the risk of damaging the strap or cable being used as a fall prevention tool.